Here's a legitimate questions for the basketball enthusiasts out there with a feel for the pulse of the NBA:

Why does the national media (mainly ESPiN) dislike Nowitzki?

This is such a joke and you know it. ESPN loves Dirk. You never hear a bad thing about Dirk during a Mavs game. Sure, you might not get the "features" on SportsCenter that Kobe and Nash do, but who cares?

Seriously, the fact that it upsets you that Dirk doesn't get more attention is disturbing. You're the type of person that if Dallas wins this year, you're going to gripe all season about how they "didn't get respect". Get over it and just watch the games.

I think that there's some truth to that. Dirk didnt spend a day in an American school and learned the game from an eccentric German coach.

I think that there are other reasons too (in no particular order).

#1 - the national media in general dislikes Mark Cuban. They find him an annoyance. Cuban has taken public shots at major newspaper columnists from Chicago, LA, Miami, and NY. He has criticized them for inaccurate and lazy reporting...he specifically nailed Peter Vescey, Sam Smith, and some guy from Miami. Cuban has an independent voice from which he can say whatever he chooses (as long as he is willing to pay the fine), and the columnists try to hold their ground against him.

#2 - the media has spent so much time bagging on Dallas in the past that they cant admit their own failure. There are guys who will call a spade a spade (Barkley, Greg Anthony, Jon Barry, Doug Collins, Reggie Miller) regardless of whether or not they "like" a team or a player. Those guys are few and far between when contrasted with the guys who pander to the people that cut them checks (Hollinger, Jim Gray, Marv Albert, John Saunders, etc, etc) or the people who have no objectivity because they arent required to (that encapsulates just about everyone else). It's hard not to like Steve Nash, but it's hard not to like Nowitzki too. Despite Nowitzki's attractiveness as a personality, the media paints everything he does with questionmarks even though he has proven alot more over his career. Despite Dirk's tendancy to convert the dramatic play, and a reel full of difficult shots, you dont see many Nowitzki highlights. Nash on the other hand can do no wrong. He'll never have a turnover in the highlight reel, but you'll see almost everything else he does while the sportsdesk fawns in adulation.

#3 - Dirk doesnt talk trash, and heaps praise on opponents.

#4 - Dirk has been an annoyance because he just wont go away. He keeps on forcing people to notice him and the Mavs.

#5 - What does it mean for American basketball if the best playoff performance since Jordan retired was put on display by a tall, white, awkward European guy? Make no mistake, Dirk's playoff performance was absolutely brilliant. Against Memphis he was outstanding. Against the Spurs, he was legendary. Against the Suns, he was a "Pantheon guy" according to Bill Simmons. He fizzled out in a couple of the games against the Heat, but those two games dont discount the fact that he put his team on his back in legendary fashion to get his team there to compete for the trophy. That basket against the Spurs (on top of his ridiculous stats for the series) and the 50 pointer against PHX are pretty much the most significant couple of playoff performances since Jordan pushed Byron Russell out of the way to unleash the Jazz-killing jumper.

I think that there's some truth to that. Dirk didnt spend a day in an American school and learned the game from an eccentric German coach.

I think that there are other reasons too (in no particular order).

#1 - the national media in general dislikes Mark Cuban. They find him an annoyance. Cuban has taken public shots at major newspaper columnists from Chicago, LA, Miami, and NY. He has criticized them for inaccurate and lazy reporting...he specifically nailed Peter Vescey, Sam Smith, and some guy from Miami. Cuban has an independent voice from which he can say whatever he chooses (as long as he is willing to pay the fine), and the columnists try to hold their ground against him.

#2 - the media has spent so much time bagging on Dallas in the past that they cant admit their own failure. There are guys who will call a spade a spade (Barkley, Greg Anthony, Jon Barry, Doug Collins, Reggie Miller) regardless of whether or not they "like" a team or a player. Those guys are few and far between when contrasted with the guys who pander to the people that cut them checks (Hollinger, Jim Gray, Marv Albert, John Saunders, etc, etc) or the people who have no objectivity because they arent required to (that encapsulates just about everyone else). It's hard not to like Steve Nash, but it's hard not to like Nowitzki too. Despite Nowitzki's attractiveness as a personality, the media paints everything he does with questionmarks even though he has proven alot more over his career. Despite Dirk's tendancy to convert the dramatic play, and a reel full of difficult shots, you dont see many Nowitzki highlights. Nash on the other hand can do no wrong. He'll never have a turnover in the highlight reel, but you'll see almost everything else he does while the sportsdesk fawns in adulation.

#3 - Dirk doesnt talk trash, and heaps praise on opponents.

#4 - Dirk has been an annoyance because he just wont go away. He keeps on forcing people to notice him and the Mavs.

#5 - What does it mean for American basketball if the best playoff performance since Jordan retired was put on display by a tall, white, awkward European guy? Make no mistake, Dirk's playoff performance was absolutely brilliant. Against Memphis he was outstanding. Against the Spurs, he was legendary. Against the Suns, he was a "Pantheon guy" according to Bill Simmons. He fizzled out in a couple of the games against the Heat, but those two games dont discount the fact that he put his team on his back in legendary fashion to get his team there to compete for the trophy. That basket against the Spurs (on top of his ridiculous stats for the series) and the 50 pointer against PHX are pretty much the most significant couple of playoff performances since Jordan pushed Byron Russell out of the way to unleash the Jazz-killing jumper.

1) Any negativity that Cuban brings to his team is Cubans fault. Its called ACCOUNTABILITY

I think that there's some truth to that. Dirk didnt spend a day in an American school and learned the game from an eccentric German coach.

I think that there are other reasons too (in no particular order).

#1 - the national media in general dislikes Mark Cuban. They find him an annoyance. Cuban has taken public shots at major newspaper columnists from Chicago, LA, Miami, and NY. He has criticized them for inaccurate and lazy reporting...he specifically nailed Peter Vescey, Sam Smith, and some guy from Miami. Cuban has an independent voice from which he can say whatever he chooses (as long as he is willing to pay the fine), and the columnists try to hold their ground against him.

#2 - the media has spent so much time bagging on Dallas in the past that they cant admit their own failure. There are guys who will call a spade a spade (Barkley, Greg Anthony, Jon Barry, Doug Collins, Reggie Miller) regardless of whether or not they "like" a team or a player. Those guys are few and far between when contrasted with the guys who pander to the people that cut them checks (Hollinger, Jim Gray, Marv Albert, John Saunders, etc, etc) or the people who have no objectivity because they arent required to (that encapsulates just about everyone else). It's hard not to like Steve Nash, but it's hard not to like Nowitzki too. Despite Nowitzki's attractiveness as a personality, the media paints everything he does with questionmarks even though he has proven alot more over his career. Despite Dirk's tendancy to convert the dramatic play, and a reel full of difficult shots, you dont see many Nowitzki highlights. Nash on the other hand can do no wrong. He'll never have a turnover in the highlight reel, but you'll see almost everything else he does while the sportsdesk fawns in adulation.

#3 - Dirk doesnt talk trash, and heaps praise on opponents.

#4 - Dirk has been an annoyance because he just wont go away. He keeps on forcing people to notice him and the Mavs.

#5 - What does it mean for American basketball if the best playoff performance since Jordan retired was put on display by a tall, white, awkward European guy? Make no mistake, Dirk's playoff performance was absolutely brilliant. Against Memphis he was outstanding. Against the Spurs, he was legendary. Against the Suns, he was a "Pantheon guy" according to Bill Simmons. He fizzled out in a couple of the games against the Heat, but those two games dont discount the fact that he put his team on his back in legendary fashion to get his team there to compete for the trophy. That basket against the Spurs (on top of his ridiculous stats for the series) and the 50 pointer against PHX are pretty much the most significant couple of playoff performances since Jordan pushed Byron Russell out of the way to unleash the Jazz-killing jumper.

1) Any negativity that Cuban brings to his team is Cubans fault. Its called ACCOUNTABILITY. Mark knows the rules regarding slamming the media or misbehaving on the court but yet he still does it because he knows he has the money to pay the fines. Dont get me wrong, i love his passion for his team and he is in general a cool guy as ive heard in some interviews. But overall, his antics are on him, not anyone else. Anyone else who behaves like that gets fined also so he isnt singled out there.

2) The media bags on Dallas because time in and time out they put up great numbers and have a lot of talent only to fall short come championship time. Dallas is a Jeckle and Hyde of the NBA and its a head scratcher. Perhaps this year is different but until they win it all thats how they will be viewed. Again, nothing new.

3) True

4) He wont go away because in some games he lights it up and in others he chokes on man sausage.

5) This is a bunch of crap here, ever heard of Larry Bird? Do you really think they care that a white guy is a Super star? Gimme a break. Once Dirk gets a ring the media will be flogging him daily and then you will be whining that he never got respect blah blah blah. Thats how it works in Sports Lama, even you should know this by now.

After Wednesday's classic double overtime win against Dallas, the Phoenix Suns have been blown out 105-83 at home by Detroit and 131-107 by the Denver Nuggets. It seemed that on Thursday morning a consensus was developing to give Steve Nash the MVP after his tremendous play down the stretch against Dallas. He was fantastic, no doubt about it--but if he gets all the credit for Phoenix' win (never mind Amare Stoudemire's 41 points and 10 rebounds) then who gets the blame when the Suns get destroyed in back to back games? The Suns have their complete roster intact, so injuries aren't the culprit. I'm not trying to pick on Steve Nash. I think that he is a wonderful player--but something is fishy if we are supposed to believe that he deserves all of the credit when they win but should receive none of the blame when they lose. If a one minute stretch versus Dallas can "win" or "clinch" an MVP, do two bad games open the race back up for other contenders? No, Nash did not play terribly in either loss (20 points, six assists against Detroit, 15 points and 10 assists versus Denver) but he has been winning MVPs based on the idea that he makes the whole team better and is the main reason that the Suns win. If he plays OK, the Suns are at full strength and they get blown out--twice--then something does not add up. Somehow, I doubt that the lead story on ABC or ESPN's coverage today will be that the Suns' performances have reopened the MVP race that supposedly was closed on Wednesday. All I'm saying is that the standard should be consistent. My position does not change game by game: Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA and should get the MVP if the award is supposed to honor the best player; if the MVP is supposed to go to the best player on the best team, then Dirk Nowitzki should win it this year, barring a complete collapse by the Mavericks. One or two good or bad games by anybody will not change my opinion about that--but those who "awarded" the MVP to Nash on Thursday morning have some explaining to do. "http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/...-of-blame.html

Personally, I think that Phoenix fans as a group are content to watch the show. If a championship comes, then that's just a bonus.

1) Any negativity that Cuban brings to his team is Cubans fault. Its called ACCOUNTABILITY. Mark knows the rules regarding slamming the media or misbehaving on the court but yet he still does it because he knows he has the money to pay the fines. Dont get me wrong, i love his passion for his team and he is in general a cool guy as ive heard in some interviews. But overall, his antics are on him, not anyone else. Anyone else who behaves like that gets fined also so he isnt singled out there.

Oh, I'm not complaining about the fines. He knows what he's doing. If Dirk loses the MVP this season, I am confident that it will be because of Cuban. Cuban has always been accessible and candid with the media, but he has also burned several bridges with big markets. He points out their mistakes and has even called one guy from Chicago an old kook (paraphrased of course)...not to mention his charge that NY stalwart Peter Vescey makes up his stories. Granted both of those things are true, but that doesnt matter. If you dont play the game, you dont win, and Cuban wont play the game. He'll pay for it in the media too. They'll tear his team down at any opportunity.

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2) The media bags on Dallas because time in and time out they put up great numbers and have a lot of talent only to fall short come championship time. Dallas is a Jeckle and Hyde of the NBA and its a head scratcher. Perhaps this year is different but until they win it all thats how they will be viewed. Again, nothing new.

How is this any different in Phoenix? Hey, at least Dallas has been to the Finals. What have the Suns ever done against the Spurs?

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5) This is a bunch of crap here, ever heard of Larry Bird? Do you really think they care that a white guy is a Super star? Gimme a break. Once Dirk gets a ring the media will be flogging him daily and then you will be whining that he never got respect blah blah blah. Thats how it works in Sports Lama, even you should know this by now.

The media will never promote Nowitzki like they do their black American athletes.

The ship is where its at!! We just believe we CAN win with this style.. It almost happend last year without Amare or Kurt.

If getting smacked by a tired and emotionally exhausted Dallas team in 6 after barely getting past the Lakers and the Clippers in 7 game series' is "almost" then you guys have a longer way to go than you realize.

Right now, Suns fans should be more worried about getting past the Spurs in the second round than meeting up with Dallas in the Conference Finals. The Spurs should be very close to them in the final standings.

The Mavs are 5 games up on the Suns.
The Suns are 4 games up on the Spurs
The Mavs are 9 games up on the Spurs.

The Suns have never beaten the modern Spurs in the playoffs, and they dont play tough enough defense to get it done this time around. I am expecting San Antonio to win that series.

One thing you can appreciate about the Mavs/Suns is its rapidly becoming a big rivalry in the same vein as the Lakers/Celtics of the 80's. Either one team annihilates the other or it is a nail biter in the end. I could watch these matchups all day long.